The countdown begins

Well, the countdown has well and truly begun - in less than two weeks we’ll be in Lyon, hours away from the biggest professional challenge of our lives!

Despite spending the last few months in the Bocuse d’Or kitchen, there is nothing that can really prepare us for the finals on the 30th of this month.  The closest we’ve ever been were the European finals in Brussels, where we really enjoyed the buzz, we’re hoping that Lyon will offer more of the same.

Jodi Hinds, the official Bocuse d’Or UK photographer spent the day with us on Monday, taking photos for the menu.  She has a fantastic eye for food and really helps to show off each of the garnishes to their full potential.  However, these are the only teasers I’m happy to show for the time being....

This week we kick off the invited run throughs at University College Birmingham, where we’re inviting supporters to come along to see and taste my menu.  We have a few places left so if you’d like to join us please contact Julie Kendall.

A shout out for the team

Over the last few weeks I’ve been spending most of my free time in the Bocuse d’Or kitchen, experimenting with different cooking techniques for the Irish beef.  It’s fantastic to have the facilities to take myself away and focus purely on the competition and I can’t thank UCB and all the companies which donated equipment enough for making the kitchen happen.

This week, I’ll be working in a very different kind of kitchen, that of Régis Marcon, joint owner and founder of the three Michelin starred, Auberge et Clos des Cimes.   Régis won the Bocuse d’Or in 1995 and is still involved in the competition.  I have a huge amount of respect for Régis’ cooking and I’m really looking forward to working with his team.  Whilst I’m there I’m hoping to drop into Lyon and familiarise myself with the surroundings to help focus my mind and prepare myself for my greatest challenge yet.

Whilst it might be my greatest challenge, I certainly don’t feel like I’m going it alone as I have a great team behind me.  Andreas is allowing me three months off in order to prepare for the finals, the team at Simpsons are also a great support as are the staff and students at the college.  Kristian is going from strength to strength and is proving his competition through his performance in the Chef of the Year and Graduate Chef of the Year awards and it’s great to have the experience of Nick, Brian and John in the team.

Our next challenge is to raise the necessary funds to help us to make an impact in Lyon and to build a platform to help future competitors to succeed.  We’ll be holding a fundraising event at the UCB on November 23, please put the date in your diary if you’d like to show your support.

Time to get started

Team Simpsons - Myself, Kristian, Leo and Andreas at the Gherkin
© Steve Ryan photography

It doesn’t seem two minutes since my last blog when I said that I couldn’t wait to find out the specifications so that we could start preparing for the final.  We now have these and there have been a few surprises this year.

I’m delighted to be working with Irish steer beef fillet, however, we won’t know what the fish will be until the end of November.  We were expecting some changes to the competition as our Sirha contact, Anne-Sophie, had given us the heads up.  However, the fact that the candidates will only have two months (previously candidates had six months) to create and practise the fish plate was a surprise.  Other changes include points for incorporating national influences into the dishes and having to create a garnish using seasonal ingredients sourced from a Lyon market - the competition is in January so I don’t think there’s going to be a wide choice! 

All this was announced at the press launch for both the Bocuse d’Or and the World Pastry Cup at Searcys at the top of London’s Gherkin last Monday.  Many thanks to GL Events, Andre Dang and Valrhrona for organising.  It was great to see some of our sponsors there too, including Ritter Courivaud, Nestle Professional, Villeroy & Boch, Rougie and Classic Fine Foods and Compass Group and to catch up with previous UK candidate Andre Garrett.  

The new rules provide us with a few challenges but I’m excited by the changes.  I’ve been cooking for 25 years and the Bocuse d’Or is probably the greatest test of culinary and creative skills in the world. Now where’s that beef?

Raising our game

We know that we need to raise our game again if we’re going to do well in Lyon so standing still isn’t an option. Unfortunately, we won’t know which fish or meat we’ll be dealing with until the end of June but there’s no time like the present to get thinking!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been seeking inspiration in various forms.  I was lucky enough to be a guest of Nespresso, Bocuse d’Or sponsors, on a chef study trip out to Switzerland.  It was a great opportunity to meet talented and innovative chefs from around Europe, including Eduoard Loubet, the two Michelin starred chef from Bonnieux, Provence who I greatly admire.  It was an eye opener to watch chefs creating savoury dishes using espresso and whilst I didn’t come back with any specific dishes in mind, it was great to see just how far some chefs take their creativity.

With thanks to Jodi Hinds photography

Now I’m back in Edgbaston I’m looking for inspiration closer to home and working on a theme for my dishes.


As I said in my last blog, the Bocuse d’Or is not a level playing field and unfortunately, unlike some other countries which are supported by their governments, the UK has always had to rely on donations.  We received a great response in the run up to Brussels with the majority of our equipment and ingredients being donated by a wide range of businesses.  However, for the next stage we really need to drum up support for coming out to Lyon and also to help us to raise the funds necessary to make our entry the best that it can be.

If you’d like to do your bit in helping Team UK to show the rest of the world what we’re capable of, please send an email to our coach, Nick Vadis (Nick.vadis@compass-group.co.uk) with ‘Bocuse d’Or support’ in the subject line.

We’ll also be planning some fundraising events over the coming months so make sure you follow us on Twitter @BocusedorUK for details.